


Complications in the Plot

by aralias



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: M/M, The Land of Fiction, s045 The Mind Robber
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-19
Updated: 2011-04-19
Packaged: 2017-10-18 09:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/187534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aralias/pseuds/aralias
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor is relieved to hear that the Master is behind their current scrape, because it makes the ending rather predictable and the Doctor isn't afraid of this story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Complications in the Plot

He isn’t afraid when he hears the Master’s name. It’s actually a relief to know what’s going on. Now there are rules and, of _course_ , it’s the Master. Of course. He should have realised earlier. There’s no sense of a Time Lord presence in this place, but it would be just like the Master to find a way of suppressing that beacon only to hang onto his name. Brilliance frustrated by his own pride: oh yes, that was always very much his style. It’s the Master all right: the Doctor always knows him and this place has his fingerprints all over it. Well, the Doctor amends mentally, assuming that he isn’t wearing gloves again this regeneration and leaves fingerprints at all. Ha ha.

He finds himself enjoying walking in this fictional land, laid out before him like a love letter. He enjoys the small puzzles the Master has left to test him, to bait him, none of them quite good enough to actually kill him (well, as if the Master _would_ , really). This is just a game, like the many they’ve played before. The Master’s first move is impressive as always. He has managed to follow them into non-space, that’s certainly very impressive and, at the same time, (again, as always) vaguely embarrassing. Why must he always go to all this trouble when a much simpler plan would have sufficed? When they meet at the centre of this web, the Doctor will frown and say, ‘Now really, Master. You know, we must stop meeting like this’. That should be appropriately infuriating.

It will be pleasant to see him. They can banter merrily and then, whilst the Master is distracted with some ludicrously complicated plot device, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe can escape, because that’s what happens.

Actually, they haven’t met up nearly as often as the Doctor had supposed they would now they are both renegades. Presumably the Master has been sulking. Well, that’s just like him, too. If it wasn’t against the rules the Doctor would give the Master a piece of his mind about that, because it really wasn’t his fault, you know. They both wanted to leave. If the Master had only been a bit quicker about it – Not that it matters now. They’re playing a new game at last and he's enjoying it.

Then they reach the citadel (how unnecessarily ostentatious, the Doctor thinks fondly) and the robots take them into the control room and he sees an old human and a computer are behind this place. Then the Doctor realises how foolish he’s been and he is afraid at last as the rules are swept out from under him.


End file.
